Zimbabwe's Ministry of Transportation says it is proposing to oblige all operators of public conveyances to take new drivers tests, hoping this will reduce fatalities on the highways and and detect license fraud, eventually extending the practice to all drivers.
Transport Ministry Permanent Secretary Patson Mbiriri said the re-testing initiative is in the early stages and the ministry must determine whether it has the capacity to roll it out, but added that there is clearly a need for driver re-testing. He said the ministry for now has been relying on commercial transport companies to do their own testing.
Two commuter bus crashes last month claimed the lives of 33 people, sparking debate on the state of Zimbabwean roads and the qualifications of the nation's drivers.
Lawmaker Blessing Chebundo, chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Transportation, said re-testing would help but that other factors have contributed to loss of life, so his committee is trying to address all factors including the abysmal condition of Zimbabwe's roads and corruption among police and Transport Ministry officials.
Motorist Gilbert Kagodora told VOA reporter Jonga Kandemiiri that before the government decides to re-test drivers it must flush out corruption in the Transport Ministry where examiners demand bribes to give drivers a passing grade.
